Abstract
Bu
çalışmanın amacı Barry Hines tarafından yazılan A Kestrel for a Knave isimli
romanın Marksist okumasını yapmak ve ‘onlar’ ile ‘biz’ arasındaki
antagonizmanın – bu durum her ne kadar sınıf ve sınıf bilinci gibi Marksist kavramlarla
benzerlik gösterse de – ekonomiye dayalı kaygılardan ziyade kültürel ve kişisel
kaygılarla şekillendiğini ileri sürebilmek adına, romanın ana karakteri
Billy’nin kişisel deneyimleri üzerinden yola çıkıp onlar-biz çelişkisini analiz
etmektir. Bu çalışma, sömüren ve sömürülen ikilemine dayalı sınıf bilincinden
yoksun olma durumunun, Billy ve O’nun ‘onlar’ın dünyasına yönelik sığ ve
benmerkezci tepkileri örneğinde de olduğu gibi, para egemen düzenin radikal bir
dönüşümüne yol açmayacağını ve bu durumun, sanılanın aksine, İngiliz işçi
sınıfının sosyo-tarihsel gerçeğinin kurgusal bir temsilcisi olan Billy’i üretimin
sosyal güçlerinin totalitesine entegre edeceğini ve güç ilişkilerinin hegemonik
ve indirgemeci politikalarını meşrulaştıracağını belirtmektedir. Bu durum ise
makalede ‘onlar’laşma süreci olarak kuramsallaştırılacaktır.
References
- Alcala, R. V. (2016). Class, embodiment, and becoming in British working-class fiction: Rereading Barry Hines and Ron Berry with Deleuze and Guattari. College Literature, 43, 375-396.
- Althusser, L. (1971). Lenin and philosophy and other essays. New York: Monthly Review Press.
- Bağlama, S. H. (2017). Literalisation of class antagonism: The dichotomy of them and us in Alan Sillitoe’s fiction. Postgraduate English Journal of Durham University, 35, 1-24.
- Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
- Callinicos, A. & Harman, C. (1987). The changing working class. London: Bookmarks.
- Deleuze, G. (1992). Postscript on the societies of control. October, 59, 3-7.
- Gramsci, A. (1999). Selections from the prison notebooks. London: The Electric Book Company.
- Hardt, M. & Negri, A. (1994). Labour of Dionysus: A critique of the state form. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
- Hines, B. (2000). A kestrel for a knave. London: Penguin Classics.
- Hines, B. (2009). This artistic life. Keighley: Pomona Press.
- Hoggart, R. (2009). The uses of literacy: Aspects of working-class life. London. Penguin Classics.
- Sillitoe, A. (1959). The loneliness of the long-distance runner. London: W. H. Allen.
- Sillitoe, A. (1964). Poor people. Anarchy 4 (4), 214-128.
- Woodruff, W. (2002). The road to nab end. London: Abacus.
Abstract
The objective of this article is to propose a Marxist reading of Barry
Hines’s A Kestrel for a Knave (1968) and to analyse the them-us contradiction
through a close reading of the subjective experiences of the protagonist,
Billy, in order to put forward that the antagonism between ‘them’ and ‘us’ is,
despite the fact that it seems to comply with the Marxist conception of class
and class consciousness, perceived more in cultural and personal terms than in
economic terms. The article suggests that the lack of a class-conscious
approach based on the exploiter and the exploited is, as in the case of Billy
and his defiant and self-centred reactions to the world of ‘them’, unable to
lead to a radical transformation of the money-oriented world, capitalism, and
that this, on the contrary, interpellates Billy, a fictional representative of
the socio-historical reality of the English working class, into the totality of
the social relations of production and materialises the hegemonic and
reductionist politics of power relations. This process will, over the course of
the article, be referred to as the process of ‘them’isation.
References
- Alcala, R. V. (2016). Class, embodiment, and becoming in British working-class fiction: Rereading Barry Hines and Ron Berry with Deleuze and Guattari. College Literature, 43, 375-396.
- Althusser, L. (1971). Lenin and philosophy and other essays. New York: Monthly Review Press.
- Bağlama, S. H. (2017). Literalisation of class antagonism: The dichotomy of them and us in Alan Sillitoe’s fiction. Postgraduate English Journal of Durham University, 35, 1-24.
- Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
- Callinicos, A. & Harman, C. (1987). The changing working class. London: Bookmarks.
- Deleuze, G. (1992). Postscript on the societies of control. October, 59, 3-7.
- Gramsci, A. (1999). Selections from the prison notebooks. London: The Electric Book Company.
- Hardt, M. & Negri, A. (1994). Labour of Dionysus: A critique of the state form. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
- Hines, B. (2000). A kestrel for a knave. London: Penguin Classics.
- Hines, B. (2009). This artistic life. Keighley: Pomona Press.
- Hoggart, R. (2009). The uses of literacy: Aspects of working-class life. London. Penguin Classics.
- Sillitoe, A. (1959). The loneliness of the long-distance runner. London: W. H. Allen.
- Sillitoe, A. (1964). Poor people. Anarchy 4 (4), 214-128.
- Woodruff, W. (2002). The road to nab end. London: Abacus.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal Section | Articles |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | March 20, 2019 |
| Submission Date | October 8, 2018 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2019 Volume: 21 Issue: 1 |